JCAMP-DX: A Standard Form for Exchange of Infrared Spectra in Computer Readable Form

JCAMP-DX is a standard file form for exchange of infrared spectra and related chemical and physical information between spectrometer data systems of different manufacture, main-frame time-sharing systems, general purpose lab computers, and personal computers. It is compatible with all media: telephone, magnetic and optical disk, magnetic tape, and even the printed page (via optical reader). All data are stored as labeled fields of variable length using printable ASCII characters. A JCAMP-DX spectrum is a text file which can be viewed, corrected, and annotated with a text editor. The present focus is on infrared spectra, but JCAMP-DX can easily accommodate Raman, UV, NMR, mass, and other types of spectra, x-ray powder patterns, chromatograms, thermograms, and other plots which require the capability of representing contours as well as peak position and intensity. JCAMP-DX also provides for combining adequate information about the sample and method of observation with its spectrum.